Created 15 years ago, the innovative Italian company ML Engraving SRL is one of the leaders in laser engraving and texturing on molds/dies and parts for automotive and consumer goods industries in one of the most industrialized regions in Europe, Lombardia. DS4 is an innovative Italian Company entirely composed by highly skilled technicians that gathers all the modern technology engineering branches such as mechanical engineering, electronics, software, firmware, mathematics, artificial vision and A.I in view of the design and production of laser based systems.
With INFINITE project, ML and DS4 are developing an innovative system for high precision laser engraving and 3D surface texturing, fully adapted to these industries in terms of design requirements, productivity, repeatability, easy operability and price. This recent technology, that combines a new software called Raptor and a new robotic machine, will allow ML Engraving and DS4 to consolidate their strength and positioning on the laser engraving/texturing market, which is estimated of about 100 million euro in 2016 and is expected to grow in the next years. The two Companies are joining their strengths and abilities on different levels: 1) the substitution of a Cartesian machine with an anthropomorphic machine and 2) the creation of new procedures in terms of CAD/CAM design and calculation by means of Raptor, a complex new software.
Most of the objects around us are composed of plastic material, obtained through the molding process. One of the most important components, which helps the end user to perceive the quality of the product, is related to the surface appearance and finishing. Sometimes, the customer is not able to judge the internal quality of the product, while he can appreciate the good finishing, the attractive appearance and the design. A “good” product should be also “nice” and well ended up. This aspect helps to easily and immediately communicate a higher quality and therefore a greater value of the product itself. In the Western market, due to the increase of objects originated from low cost countries, the western producers have started to think about the possibility to introduce enhanced finishes on their products. Going back along the process, a good finishing can be obtained only if the mold is well produced too.
Traditional technologies have several problems and limits in this regard. They are semi-manual technologies, that can execute two-dimensional engravings or, at most, two levels of depth of excavation. A semi-manual process has a minimal degree of automation and it is not 100% repeatable. The chemical etching is the most common technology; it uses the acid as a component of excavation, with consequent safety problems during processing and pollution.
Systems based on laser technology go beyond this paradigm, introducing also the possibility of expanding new opportunities for designers. Through the laser, it is possible to perform 3D textures 100% repeatable; to develop the project with digital supports and to release the renders before performing the process. Laser technology neither pollute the atmosphere or produce waste or toxic fumes and uses renewable energies during the eco-sustainability working processes. Today laser engraving systems, based on a Cartesian architecture, on the other hand requires long setup-up time, are expensive both considering the capital costs (the precision and rigidity of the axes need to be recognized) and process costs. Traditional laser texturing system indeed are not able to operate on large volumes, lacks flexibility and are long to be re-programmed. On the contrary system based on anthropomorphic robots are more convenient, flexible in 3D environments, easy to be programmed (thanks to the developments in the vision and tracking technologies). The laser texturing based on anthropomorphic robots may contribute to the development of the society by bringing finest products on the market in a green and sustainable way. Moreover, some manufacturings have functional aspects that cannot be managed and obtained with other systems. In addition to that, the creation of Raptor software with a new approach to the whole process of laser engraving completes the revolution of INFINITE. The final goal is to give an important contribution to the improvement and development of these laser engraving technologies in order to make them more competitive on the market.
